Chapter 41: Prince Yu's manor

Song Juguang felt that she'd already done everything she could. The Cangwei army she'd painstakingly lead, she'd disbanded in an instant just so Jiang Changbai would be at ease, and of the originally near three hundred thousand troops, now, those stationed in the capital's suburbs, only barely a hundred thousand remained. The court ministers all maintained those archaic thoughts, and felt that, no matter what, the sovereign of a nation couldn't be female, and so she'd arranged for each of them to be beat up, so that these people could no longer have the courage to say something. Even Lu Pingwan's self-imprisonment in the Cining Palace, Song Juguang had tried to go appeal. Though in the end, it hadn't had any effects, she'd tried after all.

It was just that, besides disbanding the Cangwei army, the remaining matters, Jiang Changbai didn't know about a single one. Song Juguang hadn't thought to tell her, nor could she tell her. She was only hoped for Jiang Changbai to sit stably on the imperial throne, and gradually become an outstanding emperor, and that would be enough. As for the other obstacles, she'd sweep them all clean.

Yet now, Song Juguang's heart was filled with complex feelings. Occasionally, she felt that, since she would always be suspected, she might as well thoroughly let go of it all and not pay attention, and only wholeheartedly attend to her own matters. But she knew clearly as well that the current state of the court, Jiang Changbai would struggle to support against. A single inattention, and she'd be swallowed whole by those old fools.

Perhaps precisely because of this reason, even though now, she'd originally meant to rest, once she'd calculated that Jiang Changbai's person would go to the Wu residence and run into a mishap, she'd hurried over to help. She cast a glance at Meng Daosheng and the others beneath her feet, brazenly carrying away the ledgers, and felt that it was somewhat foolish.

This "foolish" wasn't merely describing them, but also Song Juguang herself. The flames in the Wu residence before her burnt, but the flames in Song Juguang's heart were almost about to be extinguished.

She sat quietly on the tree, the place she was gazing at unclear, until the full night of flames in the Wu residence went out, until the early morning light spilt across the treetops.

No one knew when Song Juguang left. Jiang Changbai, of course, wouldn't know.

These past few days, she hadn't seen Song Juguang, and though Jiang Changbai's mind could be said to be somewhat desolate, she didn't have the energy to think about it carefully. Meng Daosheng had just brought the ledgers from the Wu residence, and Jiang Changbai was looking for a few trusted aides to leaf through and audit them.

Just as expected, every first, fourth, seventh, and tenth month, a sudden, great entry of silver would show up in the ledgers. These entries of silver had no clearly indicated origin, only a light triangular mark drawn by the side. And, every year on these four months, it was, by chance, the time when each place would send the money, under escort, into the capital.

Meng Daosheng, waiting in the imperial study the entire time, hearing this news, hurriedly knelt before Jiang Changbai, and said, "Bixia, this minister will take troops to search and seize Wu Dongmu's residence now!"

Yet Jiang Changbai raised her hand in the air to halt her, and shook her head. "No need for haste; get up."

Meng Daosheng stood up angrily, dissatisfaction written across her face. But Jiang Changbai didn't have the intention to explain it to her, but rather pushed the ledger towards Xie Qianbing, and asked, "Can you discern anything else?"

Xie Qianbing fell silent, and flipped through that ledger once more. Then, she shook her head. "Forgive this minister's slow wit."

Jiang Changbai sighed. "The amounts are wrong."

"You mean," Xie Qianbing said, somewhat hesitantly, "these numbers are too small?"

"Yes," Jiang Changbai nodded. "To be able to be the Minister of War for so long, Wu Dongmu couldn't be a fool. Luyuan lies on the sea, and, coming and going, the trade and commerce is taxed in all places; the tax payments that can be collected in a single season ought to be no less than five times this amount. Lian Zhigao couldn't keep that much wealth alone."

"You mean, there's still elsewhere."

"Precisely; and, further, this 'elsewhere' might even be in the capital." Jiang Changbai smiled, and only now shifted her gaze back to Meng Daosheng. "If his residence is hastily raided now, this much money couldn't be seized."

Meng Daosheng's eyes, gazing at Jiang Changbai, were full of doubt, but she couldn't ask any questions. Actually, it was Xie Qianbing who faintly grasped Jiang Changbai's meaning, and she turned her head to look at Meng Daosheng, and then to look at Jiang Changbai, and only spoke once she saw Jiang Changbai nod minutely towards her. "He wouldn't keep it all in his residence."

Jiang Changbai said, "It's been long said that Wu Dongmu is selfish; even if he took the money, he wouldn't keep all of it for domestic use, such that even his wife might not know that he has this much. Even if all this money was in banknotes, it wouldn't be a small amount either; We suspect that Wu Dongmu has another place, used especially to deposit this money."

All of a sudden, Xie Qianbing seemed to have thought of something, and her eyes lit up suddenly. "Then, couldn't we directly return the money he embezzled to the state treasury?"

Jiang Changbai laughed softly, and nodded, her gaze falling once more on Meng Daosheng. "Could this duty be given to you?"

"This minister? This minister…" Meng Daosheng was somewhat hesitant.

"What is it? Didn't you already infiltrate the Wu residence? Ah, unfamiliar the first time, but well-accustomed the second," Jiang Changbai added. "Just, this next time, don't set a fire; the Wu residence will be raided in the end, and if it's all razed, what will We seize?"

The fact that the Wu residence had burnt for a whole day, Jiang Changbai learnt during morning court, and, adding on that Meng Daosheng had, just previously, told her about when she was moving the ledgers out of the residence, Jiang Changbai assumed that the fire had been set by Meng Daosheng.

Meng Daosheng had originally intended to pass over this incident, but only now, hearing Jiang Changbai take initiative to raise the matter, did she realise that she already knew, and even if she were to keep concealing it, it would be futile. Only now did she systemically and in full detail explain everything from the night before. Finally, she didn't forget to add, "This minister truly doesn't know how that fire began to burn."

Yet Jiang Changbai's face was expressionless, and with a single "then this matter will be discussed again tomorrow", she waved a hand to release Meng Daosheng and Xie Qianbing. Her gaze couldn't help but flicker towards that empty low bed in the corner. She could probably guess who it was who had set the fire.

Only once the two had gone distant did Jiang Changbai ask Xun Zhu, "How many days has the Regent not entered the Palace?"

"Replying to Bixia," Xun Zhu said, thinking it over, "it ought to have been four days."

Four days. Jiang Changbai blinked, and remembered what exactly had happened four days before. At the time, Wen Congyun's actions, again and again, had caused a gloominess to rise in her heart, and even caused her bearing towards Song Juguang to deteriorate a not insignificant amount. But she couldn't have imagined that, since that day, Song Juguang actually hadn't entered the Palace again. It had to be known that, from the time Jiang Changbai had ascended the throne, Song Juguang had come into the Palace almost every day without fail, and there had never been a time like this before.

Jiang Changbai's brows unconsciously furrowed, and she continued asking, "Has any news come in? Did she fall ill?"

Xun Zhu was interrogated to the point her mind was dazed and full of fog. "Bixia, this servant doesn't know. Would you like this servant to arrange a couple people to go ask?"

Yet Jiang Changbai replied resolutely, "There's no need."

"Understood."

In this room, Xun Zhu wasn't the only one bewildered; Jiang Changbai couldn't understand where her own inquiries had come from. Song Juguang's martial skills were so great; how could she have fallen ill?

But a seed sown in the ground would slowly grow; Jiang Changbai looked over a few memorials, and in the end, set down her brush with a "pa", and said, "We will leave the Palace."

---

The carriage stopped at the gates of the Regent's residence; Jiang Changbai pushed aside the curtains, and came out from within the carriage; she'd just gotten her bearings, when she realised that the great doors to this Regent's residence were even more derelict than she could have imagined. There weren't stone guardian lions; there was even only a single maid waiting at the doors.

That maid, seeing the carriage come to a stop, rose as if it were a common occurrence, her tone scornful. "Our Wangjun isn't here."

Xun Zhu hurriedly came before her, and said, tone slightly furious, "Do you know who this is?"

The maid said, with disdain below contempt, "That Wangjun isn't here is that she isn't here; it's all the same regardless of who it is."

Xun Zhu drew a deep breath, about to continue arguing, but unexpectedly, Jiang Changbai raised a hand, placing it on her shoulder. "It's no matter." Having finished speaking, she turned her head to look at that maid, and asked, "Then would you happen to know where your Wangjun is now?"

However, once these words were spoke, the maid continued as usual, only casting a glance at Jiang Changbai, and then, unexpectedly, right after, she spoke harshly. She said, "As a person, just conduct yourself well; as an official, act steadily; where's the reason behind wanting to take a shortcut every day? Taking a look at your bearing, you must be from a high-ranking official or noble family; how could you not even understand the reason behind this guard duty of mine? Coming to drop by one after another, even if Wangjun were willing to help, it would have to be seen whether that Shengru Palace could hold this many people!"

Jiang Changbai couldn't have imagined that this maid would be so clever and eloquent; suddenly having her faults enumerated all at once, she unexpectedly wasn't infuriated, but rather asked, "According to what you say, a lot of people have come?"

The maid shot her a glance, seeming unwilling to pay any further attention. But, seeing Xun Zhu's eyes were about to spout flames, and seeing the imperial guards behind Jiang Changbai, their short daos glinting silver where they'd unsheathed them, she scoffed coldly, "So what if they've come? Wangjun said that, regardless of whom, she wouldn't see any of them."

Jiang Changbai continued, "Then, did your Wangjun say whether she'd see them if it were the Emperor?"

"The Emperor?" At first, the maid muttered it to herself doubtfully, and then her pupils widened, her eyes disbelievingly stopping on Jiang Changbai; seeing her imposing, impressive appearance, and then the faintly visible, bright yellow interior of the carriage behind her, it was unexpectedly only now that she recognised her. Another few moments passed, and only then did the maid become aware of her own excessive lack of courtesy, and she fell to her knees in a great rush. "Bixia, please forgive me; it was this servant whose eyes were dull."

"No matter." Jiang Changbai still waved her hand amiably, and said, "Now can you allow Us inside?"

That maid was still somewhat hesitant. "There's nowhere under these heavens that Bixia can't go, but what this servant just said is true as well—Wangjun truly isn't here."

Jiang Changbai's brows furrowed, and she didn't continue speaking of those who the maid had just mentioned coming to pay a visit to Song Juguang; rather, she continued asking, "Then, where is she now?"

The maid remained kneeling. "This servant doesn't know."

"Truly so?"

Those two characters fluttered lightly from Jiang Changbai's mouth, but when they struck the maid, it was like a great mountain, pressing down on her such that she couldn't breathe. The maid prostrated herself on the ground, and felt that the weight on her back seemed to be growing heavier and heavier. After another couple breaths, the maid finally replied, "Bixia, Wangjun might be at Prince Yu's manor."

Prince Yu's manor. A doubt rose in Jiang Changbai's heart, yet her face remained unchanged. With a wave, she arranged an imperial bodyguard to go to Prince Yu's manor to search for Song Juguang, and, herself, took a step, about to enter the Regent's residence. However, before she finished taking the step, she changed her mind, and called back the bodyguard who had already made it four or five meters away, and, herself, returned to the carriage. "To Prince Yu's manor."

Jiang Changbai couldn't guess what it was Song Juguang wanted to do at Prince Yu's manor, but she knew that the manor had long since been empty; now, only the Princess Yu, Yang Zhuofei, and the maids loyal to her, remained. Their hard work each day was all in order to discover the whereabouts of Prince Yu's heir, Jiang Mingyou. As Song Juguang had already said that Jiang Mingyou had died beneath her horse, Jiang Changbai believed that he was no longer alive. So, she'd always felt that their toiling work was without use. But if that was so, then why would Song Juguang go to Prince Yu's manor now?

More than that, Yang Zhuofei wasn't a simple character, either. An an orphan, utterly without background, who had married into the Prince's manor, and with the situation of Prince Yu having long since met an untimely death, she'd painstakingly supported the manor of Prince Yu in a precarious position for a great many years. It wasn't that there was no one who coveted the fields and shops of Prince Yu's manor, but she'd managed, all alone, to chase away all of those with ill intent. It was such that, in the past, when Jiang Changbai had found indications that Liu Zihe was personally embezzling from the state treasury, she had managed to receive news about it, and hurry to the Palace to put on a weeping, wailing act. If it were to be said that this sort of person were a simple character, Jiang Changbai would be the first to disbelieve it.

What could the reason behind the two of their meeting today, then?

The doubts in Jiang Changbai's mind grew greater and greater. She even suspected that it was Song Juguang who had created a distance between them, in order to assist someone else to sit on the imperial throne—and that it was Yang Zhuofei who was Song Juguang's new, foremost target.

This thought was truly absurd; it were ordinary times, Jiang Changbai would never even have thought of it. But at this time, she didn't know how, but she'd been led into a dead end,^[1] and an unconscious, faint layer of sweat emerged on her forehead. She lifted the curtain, and urged, "Quicker."

The person waiting at the gates of Prince Yu's manor, of course, could recognise the Emperor's carriage, and didn't dare to obstruct Jiang Changbai, directly letting her inside. The maid, running so fast she almost flew, hurried towards the courtyard, wanting to pass the message to Yang Zhuofei as quickly as possible. But unexpectedly, having made it into the room, before she could even speak, a voice sounded from behind her, calling out, "Her highness' carriage has come".

Jiang Changbai had hurried the entire way, but now, she still carried the bearing of being unhurried; however, her chest, yet to settle, betrayed her. As soon as she entered, she saw the two of them, Song Juguang and Yang Zhuofei, sitting separated by a table, chatting happily.

It seemed as if something had broken.

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Translator's notes:

[1]: 牛角尖 (niu jiaojian), literally the tip of an ox's horn.